I knew things were going to get fun once I recruited my first Storm Dragon.  Playing as Tarth is definitely something I'd recommend for beginners, it makes the wildlife a lot less threatening.  Since the empire wasn't hassling me (I think they were having trouble with creeps) and my ally was being lame (64 kingdom rating when i had 320) I spent the time building awesome armies of spears and archers and clearing out wildlands.  I eventually won by master quest, which i may not do in the future unless there's more than one master quest. 

I have been playing around with the 'fast' setting and the builds from that Sneak Peek thread and I have to say I like the pace of the fast game.  Notably, because I was able to actually win a game.